


When A Plan Comes Together

by flawedamythyst



Series: The Boy From The Circus [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempted Sexual Assault, College Presentations, Deaf Clint Barton, Friendship, M/M, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-11 03:31:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15963791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flawedamythyst/pseuds/flawedamythyst
Summary: Bucky rescues Kate from an asshole, and she decides to repay the favour by getting him out of his hermit bubble.It just takes her a while to get around to it. Look, college is a busy time, okay?Betaed by Tanouska





	When A Plan Comes Together

“Surely you’re gonna ask me up to your room after I walked you all the way back?”

This had been a mistake. Kate had sort of known it would be but there hadn’t been any real way to tell Tyler that she’d rather walk back to her dorm alone rather than have him with her, not without pissing him off, and his best friend Matt, and probably Matt’s girlfriend Naomi, who had been the reason Kate had gone to the stupid frat thing in the first place.

“I don’t think so,” she said, taking a careful step back, closer to the dorm door. “It’s kinda late.”

Tyler snorted. “Well, then I think I’m owed a kiss at least.”

“Owed?” repeated Kate. Shit, shit, he was stepping closer. How far was he going to push this? And if she kept saying no, was he going to listen, or get angry?

“We’re over the other side of campus from my dorm,” said Tyler. “C’mon, don’t be a tease, just a kiss and then I’ll go.” He snorted. “No need to pretend you don’t want it, there’s no one else around.”

“I’m not pretending, I actually just don’t want to kiss you,” said Katie.

Tyler rolled his eyes, leaning in closer so that she was backed up against the wall. “Right, sure. Everyone knows freshman girls are gagging for it under their good girl exteriors.”

“I’m really not, and definitely not from you,” she said. “Look, just piss off, will you?”

Oh shit, that had been too much. His face shut down into a scowl and he crowded in even closer, grabbing her arm threateningly. “Listen, you little bitch-”

“Hey!” called an extremely welcome voice. Oh thank fuck. “I think she’s made herself pretty clear that she wants you to fuck off, so why don’t you get on that?”

Tyler let go of her and turned around. Behind him was a guy in a hoodie with shoulder-length dark hair and a look on his face that promised painful murder.

“None of your fucking business,” snapped Tyler.

The guy’s glare went even darker and he set his shoulders, as if preparing for violence. “I kinda think it is. Not like I want to be going to a college with a reputation for sexual assault.”

“It’s not assault, just-” started Tyler.

“It’s assault,” said the guy, stepping closer. “Keep trying it, and it’ll be a different kind of assault.” He clenched his hands into fists, pulling his gloves tight over his knuckles in a pointed manner.

Tyler huffed out a sigh, but Kate could tell he wasn’t up for a fight with a guy that looked as much like a psychopath as this one did. He rolled his eyes as if he was above this whole thing, then glanced back at Kate. “I’ll see you around.”

“Not if I see you first,” she said.

When he left, she let out a long breath and collapsed back against the wall. “Oh man, thanks so much.”

“No problem,” said the guy. He didn’t seem to have relaxed at all when Tyler left and he pulled his keys for the dorm out of his pocket with a bit of fumble.

Kate stepped back from the door so that he could unlock it. “Oh, hey, I know you, you’ve got the single room on the second floor. My friend Jess is on your corridor.”

He opened the door and held it for her, then followed her and shut it firmly behind them. “Yeah, that’s me,” he said, his shoulders finally relaxing. Well, relaxing a bit. “My name’s Bucky.”

“Kate,” she said, holding her hand out. He eyed it for a moment before shaking it. “And, seriously, thanks so much for stepping in.”

He shrugged awkwardly. “My best friend hates bullies and drags me into all kindsa shit, so I’m in the habit of it.”

“It was very impressive,” said Kate as they headed up the stairs. “Do you practise in the mirror to get that much murder in your glare?”

He gave her a blank look, then managed a grin. “The key is thinking about how you’re being kept from going to bed.”

All the violence had slipped out of him and he seemed more awkward now than dangerous. His hands were stuffed into his pockets as he hesitated by the door to his corridor. “Um. Good night,” he offered.

Kate grinned at him. “Good night, and thanks again.”

He ducked a nod and then headed off to his room while she climbed up to the next floor.

****

Kate tried to keep an eye out for Bucky after that, if only so she could give him a friendly smile, but she never saw him. When she asked Jess about him, she got an eyeroll.

“That guy. He’s basically a hermit. We never see him. I mean, we asked him along to things at the start of the semester when we were all new, but he just stood in the corner and glowered at people, so we stopped bothering.”

Well, that sounded kinda sad. Kate might have found it easy to find a group of friends to fall in with at college, but she’d spent enough time at boarding school to know that it wasn’t always that easy to make friends when you were in a completely new place with none of your old friends to help. Standing in a corner glowering might just as easily mean he was shy as he was filled with hatred for the whole human race.

Everyone needed friends, right? Kate could help with that.

Except, she got caught up in the planning for Cassie’s birthday, and then she had way too many papers all due at the same time, and most of the semester had slipped away without her actually making a plan on how to get Bucky some friends. Or even talking to him again.

She didn’t even see him again until a week before Christmas, when she and Jess were heading back from a lecture and Kate was wondering how many more layers she was going to have to invest in to get through a winter in Boston.

Bucky came out of the dorm with a blond guy who was wrapping a purple scarf around his neck. Bucky was laughing at whatever the blond was saying, loudly enough for Kate to hear it across the courtyard.

“I thought he was a hermit,” said Kate, waving over at them.

Jess snorted. “Yeah, we all wish. That guy turned up a week or two ago and has been basically just living with Bucky ever since, and Kate. Seriously. They have an _unbelievable_ amount of noisy sex.”

Bucky hadn’t spotted Kate’s wave before the two of them turned away in the direction of the library so she let her arm drop. “Guess he’s really not a hermit, then.”

Jess shrugged. “I mean, we’ve still never had a conversation with him. Well, okay, the RA has now because of the complaints. Apparently the boyfriend is getting his own place in a couple of days, so hopefully it’ll go back to sweet silence after that.”

“If they’re that close, I bet Bucky will be spending most of his time at the boyfriend’s, so definitely,” said Kate. The blond had reached out to sling an arm around Bucky’s shoulders as they walked. Bucky turned towards him and paused for long enough to kiss him before they carried on down the path.

Was that cute or too much PDA? Kate couldn’t decide, although from the put-upon sigh Jess gave, she’d already come down on the side of too much. If she’d been listening to them having sex for a week, maybe she had a point.

Did having a boyfriend mean that Operation: Befriend Bucky was redundant? Nah, what if the boyfriend turned out to be an asshole? Everyone needed friends with shoulders to cry on. She really had to get her act together and put some kind of plan into motion.

****

The day before she left to go home for Christmas (something she was kinda dreading, but hadn’t been able to find an excuse to avoid) she finally made it down to the second floor, walking past Jess’s door to the single room at the end. There were no posters or signs on the door like almost everyone else had, just a blank door that remained frustratingly closed when she knocked on it.

She tried again, then called through it, “Hey! It’s Kate. The damsel in distress you rescued from a frat boy?”

Nothing.

Damnit, had he already gone home? Or was he at his boyfriend’s? She made a face at the blank wood of the door, then pushed the Christmas card she’d got for him under it.

After she came back from Christmas, Jess mentioned that Bucky hadn’t moved back into his room and they all assumed that he’d moved in with his boyfriend instead. Apparently Kat’s window for actually making friends with the guy had disappeared, especially as she didn’t even see him around campus after that.

Maybe one day she’d learn that her plans were pretty much always doomed to failure.

She’d all but forgotten about the whole thing when she finally saw Bucky again, over a year later, at the start of her second spring semester. She was taking a module on European History and Bucky was in the seminar, already slumped at the back with a scowl as the class trailed in. It was the kind of look calculated to keep anyone from sitting next to him.

Kate paused for a moment, then decided that she wasn’t going to let another chance slip her by. Just because a stupid amount of time had passed by didn’t mean she couldn’t still go ahead with her plan. It definitely didn’t seem like Bucky had spent the intervening time making a whole bunch of friends.

“Hello,” she said, taking the chair next to him and ignoring his glare. “It’s been a while.”

“Uh, yeah,” said Bucky, frowning at her. She allowed him ten seconds to try and place her, but he didn’t need it. “Kate, right?”

“Right,” she said. He was fiddling with a pen and she realised that he was wearing gloves again, which seemed kind of odd. It was cold outside, but the college had good enough heating that most people were taking all their layers off as they found a seat.

“Did that asshole ever bother you again?” he asked.

“Nope,” she said. “Apparently the terrifying guy in the hoodie scared him off completely. Thanks for that.”

He awkwardly shrugged. “No problem.”

Eli and Cassie came in and Kate waved at them to gain their attention. Bucky looked a little taken aback when they came over and took seats next to Katie, and even more so when Teddy and Billy turned around from the table in front to greet them. Huh, maybe he didn’t want to be descended on by a whole gang of people.

Tough. He’d done enough hermitting last year, he could handle Kate’s friends for one seminar a week. In fact, she was willing to bet that she could get him to join them for drinks afterwards at least once by the end of the semester. 

The lecturer started talking and she turned her attention to him. Right, history. Totally what she was here for.

There was the usual waffling to make sure everyone was in the right place and knew what they were in for, then the lecturer announced that, in addition to the exam, they’d be graded on a group presentation, and there was a soft groan from across the room. Beside Kate, Bucky slumped with defeat.

“It didn’t say that in the course guide,” pointed out a guy near the front.

The lecturer just grinned at him. “Then it’s a nice surprise! Groups of 4 to 6, please, and then I’ll allocate the topics.”

“Fuck,” muttered Bucky as the room started to hum with negotiations over who would go with whom. Kate glanced at Eli and Cassie with a raised eyebrow and got nods, then Cassie leaned forward to tap on Teddy’s shoulder.

“You want to do it with us?” asked Kate.

Bucky glared at her but she had feeling it wasn’t aimed at her so much as the situation. “I don’t do group work,” he snapped. “I’m gonna have to find another module.”

Aha, definitely still clinging to his hermit ways. “Or you could just do it with us,” said Kate, because this was the perfect chance for Operation: Get Bucky Some Friends. “I promise, we all pull our weight, you won’t get stuck doing it all on your own.”

Bucky glowered around at them all, then glanced back towards the lecturer and sighed. “Fuck,” he muttered to himself. “Okay, fine.”

Kate reached out to pat his arm, then dropped her hand when he flinched away violently. Okay, no touching. “I owe you,” she reminded him. “I’m not about to screw you over.”

He grunted in acknowledgement, but the frown didn’t fall off his face.

As soon as the seminar was over, he sprung up out of his seat, grabbing his stuff and shoving it in his bag as he headed outside.

“Are you sure about this guy?” asked Cassie. “He seems a bit...off.”

“He’s fine,” said Kate, ignoring that she barely knew him and had no idea what he was like in an academic situation.

When they got outside, Bucky was on the phone, one hand clenched in his hair. “No, it’s not- A fucking _group presentation_ , Clint, there’s no way I can-” He cut himself off and took a deep breath, rolling his eyes up to stare at the sky. 

Kate walked past as slowly as she could while doing her best to look as if there was no way she was eavesdropping. Was that the boyfriend he was talking to? Were they still together?

“Yeah, yeah, okay. Can’t help but think maybe you’ve got too much confidence in me, though,” said Bucky, then caught her eye with a panicked look before he plastered it over with a vague smile.

She smiled back and gave up on trying to listen as he turned away. Okay, so, this was going to be trickier than she maybe had figured, especially with Eli glaring at her and saying that if this module dragged down his GPA, he was blaming her.

****

Which meant, of course, that when they tried to meet up to discuss the presentation, they couldn’t find anywhere to go. The library was unexpectedly closed due to a gas leak, they couldn’t find an empty study room, and everywhere else seemed to be packed with people.

The more they walked about looking, the twitchier Bucky got, trailing around behind the others with his hands shoved into his pockets. He was wearing gloves again, and Kate tried to think if she’d ever seen him without them. Some kind of weird fashion thing, or poor circulation?

“Okay, this is getting us nowhere,” said Teddy. “I’d say we could go back to my dorm room, but my roommate is in there and he’s a shit.”

Cassie shook her head. “My stepdad will go mad if I turn up with this many people, even if it’s for studying.”

“Yeah, I don’t know if you’d all fit in my dorm room, even if my roommate is out,” said Billy.

“My place is miles away,” said Kate. “I mean, we could head out there if there’s nowhere else, but-”

Bucky let out a very long sigh. “My place is close,” he said. “About fifteen minutes walk. And it’ll be empty at this time of day.”

“And there’s space?” asked Eli.

Bucky snorted. “Oh yeah, plenty of space.”

When they got there, Kate saw why he’d looked so amused at that.

Kate’s dad was loaded, so she was used to fancy penthouse apartments, but she hadn’t been expecting Bucky to take them up to one in Back Bay with a view out over the river. The guy was wearing a hoodie with frayed sleeves, how the hell did he afford this?

A dog came trotting out to meet them as they came in and Bucky dropped to his knees to pet him. 

“Hey, Lucky, I know, you were hoping for Clint,” Kate heard him mutter as she wandered over to inspect a large painting of a circus that hung on one wall.

While he was distracted, everyone else spread out to take in the place. Well, everyone except Billy, who stopped to say hello to the dog as well.

“Is this seriously your place?” asked Teddy, heading over to the windows that led out onto a wide balcony. “Shit, is that a hot tub?”

A hot tub? Wow, okay, that needed to be looked at. Kate headed over to join Teddy, trying to work out a way to convince the others to ditch the presentation and just hang out in the hot tub instead. 

“It’s my friend’s place,” said Bucky. He straightened up from the dog with a last pat. “He owns it, he just lets us live here.”

“Wow, that’s a friend you want to keep,” said Cassie.

The hot tub wasn’t the only thing on the balcony. There was a large archery target at one end with a couple of arrows still sticking in it.

“Are you an archer?” she asked, whirling around and running her eyes over Bucky to see if she’d somehow missed some sign of that.

“Not me,” said Bucky, and she realised just how tense he was looking as they wandered all over his place, poking at things. “That’s Clint’s. Uh. My boyfriend.”

He had that tense tone that Kate knew meant he was bracing himself in case of a homophobic reaction. She wondered how he hadn’t managed to catch that there was really no need to worry about that with this group, but maybe he hadn’t been paying as much attention to them as Kate had been to him.

“Is he the one that owns this place?” asked Teddy. “Hey, Billy, how come you don’t own a fancy penthouse I could stay in rent free?”

“No, that’s another friend,” said Bucky. He looked like he was done with personal questions and would really like to get on with some work, so Kate glanced around for the best place to set up.

The main room was divided into two areas. One part had a couple of couches grouped around an enormous TV, with several consoles stacked up underneath, so Kate headed over to the large table in the other part. She didn’t think they’d get much work done if they were all just staring at a pile of computer games that were itching to be played.

The table was covered in a scattering of the kind of stuff that built up in student accommodations: a few beer bottles, a couple of empty coffee mugs and a stack of lecture notes, as well as a tangle of cables that could have been for anything and a handful of arrows. Well, okay, maybe the arrows were less normal. 

Kate put her bag down on one of the chairs and started pulling out her notes. “C’mon, guys, let’s get on with this stupid thing.”

Bucky took one look at the table and scowled, then started gathering up the mugs and bottles. The dog followed him, then paused at Kate’s side and gave her a happy look, and she realised it only had one eye.

“Just shove him away if he’s irritating,” said Bucky.

“Nah, he seems like a good boy,” said Kate, running her hand over the dog’s head. He was wearing a collar with a tag that read ‘Lucky’, and she wondered if he’d been given that name before or after he’d lost the eye.

“Uh, anyone want coffee?” asked Bucky. “Or there’s soda?”

“Coffee sounds good,” said Teddy, pulling himself away from staring at the balcony and coming over to join Kate at the table. 

Bucky disappeared through a doorway into the kitchen and Kate saw him putting on a futuristic coffee machine that looked like it might one day take over the world. The dog pulled away from her to trot after him and meaningfully nose at his food bowl.

Abandoned, Kate picked up one of the arrows. “This is nice,” she said, inspecting the fletching. “Handmade, right?”

Bucky came back out and took it from her hand, gathering up the other arrows on the table at the same time. “Clint makes them himself,” he said, dumping the arrows in a quiver leaning against a wall.

“Kate’s an archer, you know,” said Billy, glancing at one of the chairs before he sat down. 

Bucky glanced over at her and she grinned. “Best shot in the state.”

Bucky snorted. “Maybe before Clint moved here,” he said. “No one’s gonna beat him once he’s got a bow in his hands. He’s incredible.” It was the most she’d heard him say in one go and normally she’d try and encourage that, but she had her honour to defend.

She narrowed her eyes. “Want a bet?”

“Yeah, sure,” said Bucky. All his tension had just faded away as he talked about his boyfriend, which was sweet as a sign of his confidence in him, but there was no way Kate was letting this go. “Trust me, Clint’s the best. You won’t have a chance.”

“Ten bucks say I beat him,” said Kate.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “You’re wasting your money.”

“Kate’s got money to waste,” said Cassie. She glanced around at the apartment again. “Seems like you do, too.”

“Not me,” said Bucky. “I told you. My friend.”

The coffee machine beeped and he headed back into the kitchen to fix everyone coffee. Eli took advantage of the break in conversation to pull out the stack of research he’d done and start talking about the presentation.

About an hour passed, during which they got more work done than Kate would have guessed given the distractions of the apartment. The dog settled down on one of the couches once it became clear that no one was going to play with him or give him food, and eventually dozed off.

His head came straight up when there was a scrape at the door, and he bounded over with an excited bark as it opened.

“Oh, hey, good boy Lucky,” said the guy who entered, dropping to one knee. He was wearing a purple beanie. “Who’s a good boy, coming to say hello?” The dog seemed overjoyed to see him, wriggling with excitement and barking again.

“Okay, okay, keep it down,” he said, then glanced up and caught sight of everyone at the table. He looked completely gobsmacked. “Hey, Bucky.”

Damn, there was something familiar about his face. Where the hell had Kate seen him before?

“Hi,” said Bucky. “Hey, Lucky c’mon, let the guy get inside the door, would you?”

The dog backed off just far enough for the guy to come in and shut the door behind him. He headed over to Bucky and gave him a kiss, then glanced around at the others. “Hi, I’m Clint.”

Ah, this was the boyfriend. She had seen him briefly before, but only the back of his head from a distance. That couldn’t be what she knew him from. If he was into archery, had she seen him at a competition some time, or something?

“These are the guys I’m doing that presentation with,” said Bucky. “The library was shut.”

Clint’s eyes fixed on Bucky’s coffee mug and he reached for it, then he realised it was empty and made a face. His jacket fell open with the movement and Kate instantly recognised the logo on the polo he was wearing underneath.

“You work at the archery place in Cambridge,” she realised. “I know you, you were doing trick shots last time I went in.”

He’d been incredible, although she’d done her best not to look too impressed.

“I told you he was the best,” said Bucky.

Clint gave her a frown, then his face lit up. “You bought composite arrows, right? I remember, Kyle was a dick to you and you shut him down.”

The sales guy had tried to tell Kate that she was buying the wrong arrows, because of course a girl wearing Gucci sunglasses couldn’t be advanced enough for composite arrows. She hadn’t been in the mood to listen to it.

“Oh man, this _is_ going to end with an archery competition,” said Cassie.

Eli sighed. “Can we at least get this presentation sorted first?”

Clint straightened up from where he was draped around Bucky, although he kept one hand resting on his shoulder. “No problem, I was only stopping in to pick Lucky up and take him out anyway.” He pressed a kiss to Bucky’s cheek. “I’m gonna change my clothes then head out.”

Bucky nodded as Clint headed towards a door with Lucky on his heels, then called after him, “Clint!”

Clint paused and turned back, but rather than speak, Bucky said something in sign language to him. Clint nodded and gave him a thumbs up, then disappeared.

Billy casually cleared his throat. “So, my cousin’s deaf,” he said. “The whole family knows sign language.”

Bucky’s ears went pink and he focused back down on the papers in front of him. “I reckon we should start with-”

“What did he say?” asked Cassie, glancing at Bucky and then at Billy.

Billy grinned, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head. “He asked his boyfriend to stop at a shop on his way, because they’re out of milk. And lube, which is not a sign I learned from my family.”

Bucky’s whole face was red now. “Ain’t my fault you guys drunk all our milk,” he muttered.

“We didn’t use your lube,” said Teddy. “I mean, we’re not great guests, but we’re not that bad.”

Bucky took a very deep breath. “I’ve changed my mind, I am gonna drop this module. Screw this working with a group thing.”

“You’re doing fine,” said Kate. “The key is to ignore 90 percent of what Billy and Teddy say.”

“Well, I’ve definitely got experience with those kinds of guys,” said Bucky. He rubbed at his face as if trying to wipe the embarrassment away. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Clint went out about five minutes later with the dog, pausing to give Bucky another kiss before he went. It was only after he’d gone and Bucky’s shoulders hunched over again that Kate realised how much Bucky had relaxed while Clint was in the apartment.

Okay, so maybe her urge to befriend the guy who had helped her out had walked her into an emotional minefield that she wasn’t prepared for. It wasn’t as if she didn’t end up leaping into shit she had no idea about with both feet on a regular basis, and she’d told him this presentation was going to be fine. She was going to make it fine, even if it took way more effort than she had really been going to put into this module.

The next interruption was about twenty minutes later in the form of another blond guy, this one with a massive portfolio case tucked under one arm. He came inside, took in the sight of them all around the table with Bucky and then stopped dead in his place.

Bucky let out a sigh. “Hey, Steve.”

Steve blinked, then turned a wide, weirdly proud grin on Bucky. “Guys from your course?”

“Right,” said Bucky. “We’re doing a presentation.”

Steve nodded, still giving Bucky that over-the-top grin. “Of course. Well, I’m just gonna make some coffee then I’ve got a project to work on in the studio, so I’ll be out of your hair.” He headed for the kitchen, then paused to look back at them. “Anyone want any coffee?”

Everyone wanted coffee. Kate wasn’t sure just why this presentation had turned out to be such a pain-in-the-ass, although she had a feeling it was Eli’s fault. He could be pretty persnickety about getting details perfect.

“Oh, and Bucky,” added Steve, “just as a warning, Tony’s meant to be back soon.”

Bucky groaned and dropped his forehead to rest on the table. “I got any hope of you convincing him not to make any stupid jokes?”

“Not really,” said Steve, heading into the kitchen.

“If we’re going to be in the way, we can finish this up for now and find another time to meet up,” said Cassie.

Bucky shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine, Tony’s just…”

“I can hear you,” said Steve, pointedly, from the kitchen, and Bucky rolled his eyes.

“He’s got a big personality,” he finished, which Kate was pretty sure wasn’t what he’d been going to say.

“How many of you live here?” she asked, wondering how many more interruptions they were going to get.

“Just the four of us,” said Bucky.

“Huh,” said Billy, glancing around at the enormous room. “My dorm room would probably fit into this place about ten times over, and there’s two of us squashed in that.”

“Yeah,” said Teddy, “but your dorm is stupidly small.” By which he meant that it was too small for them to hang out in together when Billy’s roommate was also there, which was a rant Kate had heard way too many times at this point.

Steve came out with handfuls of mugs. “Tony was meant to be living here alone, which was ridiculous,” he said. “He’d have gone nuts with all this space to himself.”

“He’s already nuts,” muttered Bucky. “He’s with you, isn’t he?”

Steve had been about to put a mug down beside him, but he paused, then lifted it back up higher. “Sounds like you don’t want any coffee.”

Bucky scowled up at him and reached out for the mug. “Fine, fine, he’s an excellent judge of character and the sanest guy we know, just give me the damn coffee, Rogers.”

“That’s better,” said Steve, setting the coffee down for him. “Okay, I’m gonna be in the studio. Try not to have too much fun out here.”

He left and Kate raised an eyebrow at Bucky. “If I’d known coffee was the way to manipulate you…”

He rolled his eyes. “It works even better on Clint,” he said. He hesitated and Kate could seem him debating whether or not to add something else.

_Come on,_ she silently willed. _Open up. We’re not scary._

He took a deep breath and said, “The problem with having a boyfriend hooked on caffeine is that you end up having a cup every time he does, and then suddenly you’re in the same boat.”

“How long have you been together?” asked Cassie.

“Since beginning of senior year,” said Bucky and Kate wanted to cheer, especially when he added another sentence. “We all went to high school together.”

“And now you live together?” said Cassie. “That’s cool.”

“Not sure I’d want to live with my friends from high school,” said Eli. “They were kinda dicks.”

The front door flew open and a short, dark-haired guy strode in. He stopped dead and pressed his hands to his heart when he saw them. “Bucky! Buckster! Bucka-doodle-doo! You have people here! People Steve didn’t drag you kicking and screaming to talk to! I’m so proud, I swear, I’m gonna tear up a little bit.”

Bucky groaned and dropped his forehead to rest on the table again. “Fuck off, Stark.”

There was something familiar about the guy’s face but it took Kate a couple of moments to place it. Her eyes flew back over to the circus painting and, yep, he was the ringleader standing right in the centre, giving exactly the same grin he had on now. Now that she was looking, she realised that the archer must be Clint, and the knife-thrower posed beside him was Bucky. She searched the painting and found Steve hanging from a trapeze.

“Stark?” said Cassie, slowly. “Wait, you’re Tony Stark? Howard Stark’s son?”

Tony’s smile went a little brittle, which Kate could empathise with. She hated being recognised as her father’s child as well. “That’s me.”

“Okay, that explains how four college kids can afford this place,” said Billy, settling back in his chair. “Feeling better about my shitty dorm room now.”

“Three college kids and an actual contributing adult member of society,” corrected Tony. “Hey, Chuckles, has Steve been back yet?”

“He’s in the studio,” said Bucky. “Please feel free to fuck off and join him, and stay there for the next week or so.”

“Not happening,” said Tony, even as he headed in that direction. “You’ve got an hour, then we’re having take out. And beer. Rhodey’s coming over with the new girlfriend.” 

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Is this one going to be around long enough for me to bother remembering her name?”

“Probably not,” said Tony, cheerfully. “You should give it a try anyway, work on your long-term memory. I’ll quiz you on the mating habits of the Common Rhodey.” He glanced at the table. “You’re all welcome to hang about and join us, Bucky’s the only one that hates people.”

“I don’t hate people,” growled Bucky. “I just hate you.”

“Don’t make me cry, I’ll set my boyfriend on you,” said Tony as he headed off through the door that Steve had gone through.

“My boyfriend could take him!” Bucky called after him. “He’s the only one with a weapon in this place, remember!”

Tony stuck his head back through the doorway to say, “I think you’re underestimating Steve Anything-Is-A-Weapon-If-You-Use-It-Right Rogers. Remember when he threw a trash can lid at that homophobe?” He mimed throwing something. “Just like a fucking frisbee, it was beautiful.”

He disappeared again before Bucky could respond.

“Are trash can lids really that aerodynamic?” asked Cassie, thoughtfully.

“You’d be surprised,” muttered Bucky. “C’mon, let’s get this finished before Tony comes back and is...Tony at us some more.”

They did actually get the presentation finished, which was something of a fucking relief. Kate had started to be genuinely terrified that they were going to have to give up a second afternoon for it.

“Thank fuck,” said Teddy, putting the lid on his pen with dramatic finality. “Does that mean we get a celebratory beer?”

Bucky snorted, shoving his notes into a pile. “Yeah, okay, fuck it.” He stood up. “Everyone want one?”

“Fuck yes,” said Kate, stretching out the kink in her back from being hunched over the table.

Clint arrived back while Bucky was bringing beers over from the kitchen and everyone was relocating to the sofas. Lucky burst in the moment the door was open, heading over to Bucky with a wildly wagging tail. Kate thought back to Bucky’s self-deprecating comment about Lucky hoping for Clint when they’d arrived earlier, and wondered if he knew that Lucky’s affection went two ways.

“Did you get everything you needed from the shop?” asked Billy, in a falsely innocent voice.

“Oh god,” muttered Bucky.

“Uh,” said Clint, glancing around at them all, then down at the bag he was carrying. “Yes?” He looked back at Bucky, who was doing his best to pretend no one in the room existed by concentrating on petting Lucky.

“Awesome,” said Billy, giving him two thumbs up. “Gotta make sure you’re fully stocked with essentials, am I right?”

Clint blinked and looked at Bucky, who refused to meet his eyes. “Right,” said Clint. “Okay.”

“Rhodey’s bringing his new girlfriend over. Tony’s decided we’re doing beer and take out,” said Bucky, in what had to be the most obvious subject change of all time.

It worked. Clint perked up. “Pizza?”

Bucky stood up, leaving Lucky to head off into the kitchen to his water bowl. “You know, there are other kinds of take out.”

Clint gave him a grin, moving in to wrap his arms around him. “None worth talking about when we could be having pizza. Do you want to make your boyfriend cry, c’mon, why would you be so cruel when you have the bestest, hottest, most wonderful boyfriend in the world, one who definitely deserves pizza?”

“Cheating,” said Bucky, then kissed Clint, and Kate looked away, because watching other people kiss was kinda weird and voyeuristic.

****

They met an hour before the seminar on the day they were due to give their presentation, and Bucky looked as if he was about to snap and run off, or beat someone up, or both. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, his shoulders hunched over, and the hood of his hoodie pulled up over his hair as if he were trying to hide.

He’d sat with them during seminars and lectures for the last few weeks, occasionally offering a contribution to the conversation but it was clear that even after an evening of take out and computer games, he wasn’t completely relaxed around them.

“You okay?” Kate asked him.

“Fine,” he snapped, in a way that made it very clear he wasn’t.

“O-kay,” she said, glancing at Cassie and getting a shrug. “You know we’d happily change things around so you’re not speaking if it’d be easier, right? Or cut down how much you’ve got?”

Bucky shook his head. “I’m okay. I can do my part.” He sounded like he was holding on with gritted teeth, but she didn’t try and persuade him otherwise.

They did a runthrough and finished up the final details, then headed over to the lecture room. Kate was going back through her section in her head when Bucky stiffened beside her and muttered, “Oh, those assholes.”

She looked up to see Clint, Tony and Steve standing outside, waiting for them.

Bucky strode over. “What the fuck?”

“We’re here for moral support,” said Steve.

“I don’t need moral support,” claimed Bucky, but his shoulders had already relaxed a couple of notches. Clint wrapped an arm around his waist and kissed him and he unbent even more, pulling his hands out of his pockets to cling on to him.

“You can’t really have thought we wouldn’t be here,” said Clint. “C’mon, of course we’re here.”

“Some of us are just really excited about the causes of the 1848 European revolutions,” said Tony. He was wearing sunglasses even though it was cloudy, but somehow it didn’t make him look obnoxious. Kate wasn’t sure how he managed to pull that off.

“You’re going to be even more excited once you hear our presentation,” said Kate. “It’s spectacular.”

“You might be exaggerating a little,” said Cassie. “I mean. It’s okay, but there’s no fireworks.”

“You shoulda asked me,” said Tony. “I could have got you some fireworks. Ooh, or, how about a bot that-”

“No,” said Bucky. “Stop. We’re just gonna stand up and talk for a bit, and no one is going to end up on fire.”

Tony deflated, leaning into Steve. “Spoilsport.” 

Steve automatically put his arm around him. “We’re meant to be here to support Bucky, not to destroy his college.”

As they all headed inside to grab seats, Kate heard Tony sulkily point out that he’d never actually destroyed a college. “Or any educational establishment. Well, unless you count the lab at my first boarding school, but there wasn’t any actual structural damage.”

They had to sit through two other groups giving their presentations before it was their turn. Kate could feel Bucky vibrating in the seat next to her, even after Clint reached out and took his hand. Christ, if he had some kind of meltdown, would they get marked down? Surely they’d be marked on their historical knowledge and analysis, not their presentation skills?

“It’s gonna be okay,” she said to Bucky quietly as they were applauding the group before theirs.

“Just look at me,” added Clint. “No one else matters, right?”

Bucky scowled at them both. “I’m fine,” he insisted, in the face of all evidence.

They got up and headed for the front with their notes. Kate had never really had a problem with public speaking, especially not with something like this where she had other people with her and a script to go from, but Bucky’s nerves seemed to be catching. She caught Teddy’s eye as they reached the front and realised he was looking a bit pale as well.

Right, okay, time to harness all her confidence and somehow transmit it to everyone else. She looked at the room full of half-asleep students and found a smile, which became more natural when she realised that Tony was holding up a piece of paper saying, _You da man._

From Bucky’s snort, he’d spotted it too.

Eli gave their introduction, then Cassie gave their first section. Bucky was due to speak after her but once she’d finished, he hesitated. The moment stretched into a pause and Kate wondered if she should step in and just give her section for now.

Clint’s hands moved swiftly in front of him as he said something in sign and Bucky drew in a deep breath, then finally started speaking.

Kate felt relief roll through her. Christ, thank god Bucky’s friends had turned up. She looked at the three of them, all showing far more interest in the economic factors affecting mid-nineteenth century Europe than anyone else in the room even though they were the only ones not studying it, and felt like an idiot. Why the hell had she thought Bucky needed friends?

The presentation actually went pretty well. They took their smattering of applause and then headed back to their seats. Bucky collapsed down next to Clint, flopping sideways onto his shoulder, and Clint stroked over his hair. “You were great,” Kate heard him whisper. “I’m so proud.”

“Fuck off,” muttered Bucky, but his tone sounded pleased.

They had to sit through one last presentation before the lecturer let them go, then they all congregated outside.

“That could have gone so much worse, well done guys,” said Billy.

“I think we deserve a drink,” added Teddy.

“So many drinks,” agreed Cassie.

Kate glanced at Bucky. “Coming?”

Bucky hesitated, then looked around at Clint, Steve and Tony. 

“Your decision,” said Clint. “I’ve got the whole day off.”

“Fuck it,” muttered Bucky, turning back to Kate. “Yeah, okay, but nowhere too noisy. Clint’s aids aren’t so good in a crowd.”

She beamed at him. “I know just the place.” 

She’d known she’d be able to get Bucky along for post-lecture drink. Okay, so he was bringing along an entourage, but she was still going to count it as a win. And it had only taken her a year and a half to follow through on making friends with him. That had to be some kind of personal best on actually making a plan work.


End file.
